An Army Bomb Disposal Team rendered safe a viable Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Newcastle, Co Dublin in the early hours of this morning.

The Defence Forces deployed the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team after a suspect device was found outside a private residence. A cordon and road closures were put in place for public safety and a number of nearby houses were evacuated.

The team arrived on scene at 4.35 am. The device was made safe at the scene with the remnant's taken away for further examination. It was later confirmed as viable.

Items of an evidential nature were handed over to the Gardaí­ to assist them with their investigation. The scene was declared safe at 5.45 am.

This was the 74th call out so far in 2015 dealing with 18 viable devices to date.

Other types of call outs would include conventional munition destruction such as old grenades discovered by members of the public, unstable chemicals and also suspect devices found to be hoaxes.

File photos of Bomb Disposal teams can be viewed on our Flickr Channel